Vox seeks local entrepreneurs

Vox Telecom's consumer initiative, Vox Telepreneur, has paid out R4.4 million in commissions, to its dealers, following the de-regulation of the telecommunications market.

Bradley Gatter, head of operations of Vox Telepreneur, says the service has been in existence for two years. He adds that the concept had been driven by Vox MD Doug Reed, to start a consumer division using a network marketing model.

Gatter says: “Anyone who signs up online can sell Vox products such as ADSL phones and PBX. As a dealer, you're effectively a Vox reseller building relationships and using social network marketing. MCI and Sprint used a similar model in the US to remain competitive against AT&T.”

Vox Telepreneur aims to enlist South African individuals and SMEs to sell and promote Vox's telecoms products and services through their own social networks. In return, the registered dealers earn an annuity income and save on their telephony costs.

According to Gatter, the de-regulation of the telecoms sector, a formerly protected and highly regulated market, has opened the doors for the initiative. The telco expects this will drive an increase in new dealers signing up with the programme.

Gatter adds that the company currently has 4 000 dealers and 10 500 customers. “In terms of competitiveness, the benefits will filter down to the customers and dealers. We're also seeing a drop in bandwidth and telephony costs and we expect this will create more opportunity for entrepreneurs as the market expands.”

Gatter points out that many entrepreneurs have great ideas, but don't know how to market them. He says Vox Telepreneur has created training workshops to assist individuals and small businesses in selling the Vox products and services.

Gatter says that with itemised billing, customers don't have to wait until the end of the month to check their itemised bill: “Some 75% of our dealers are remaining with us because of the incentive of earning that annuity revenue. Vox to Vox calls are free, so SMEs with multi-branches can significantly reduce their telecommunications costs. They can also check their itemised billing via an itemised billing screen which is updated every around every two hours.”